Are all people children of God?

Originally posted on November 12, 2025 – by Andre Piet

This past weekend, David de Vos published his book Alle mensen zijn kinderen van God (All people are children of God) with much fanfare. In it, he explains why he is ending the foundation through which he labored for many years. Where it was once his mission to “save souls for eternity,” he now believes that God saves all people. That means that, in his ministry, he was working to achieve something that, according to the Word, is already a fact: he was working, instead of believing (cf. Rom. 9:32).

all saved?

A word of caution is appropriate here. When we proclaim the Good News, we must do so purely and biblically. And it is precisely on this point that the book unfortunately falls short in several ways. God does save all people, indeed (1 Tim. 2:4, 4:10)! But that does not mean that all people are already saved. Scripture is crystal clear: a person is saved by calling on His Name in faith.

For everyone who is invoking the name of the Lord shall be saved.
—Rom. 10:13—

That ultimately every tongue shall be acclaiming to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:9–11) does not cancel out this principle. On the contrary—it emphasizes it. But the idea that it no longer matters whether someone believes or not directly contradicts Scripture. In the book, we read:

“I no longer see any distinction between ‘believer’ or ‘unbeliever’. Between ‘inside’ or ‘outside’. Between ‘child of God’ or ‘not yet’.”
(chapter 17)

Paul, however, says:

…we rely on the living God, Who is the Saviour of all mankind, especially of believers.
—1 Timothy 4:10—

That one word “especially” makes all the difference. God saves through faith (1 Cor. 1:21). Our faith is not the basis of salvation, but it is the channel through which we receive that salvation.

For in grace, through faith, are you saved, and this is not out of you; it is God’s approach present, not of works, lest anyone should be boasting.
—Eph. 2:8–9—

everyone reconciled?

A similar misunderstanding arises where it is suggested that all people are already reconciled today. But that too is not what Scripture teaches. God reconciles all to Himself through the blood of the cross (Col. 1:20). That is a guarantee—but not a description of the current state of affairs.

As long as someone is hostile or alienated from God, that person is not yet reconciled (Col. 1:21). Paul says that God is conciliating the world to Himself in Christ (2 Cor. 5:18–19). This is God’s work: He turns enemies into lovers of Him—and He does so through the word of the cross, where it becomes visible that His love is greater than all enmity.

is God the Father of all people?

The title of the book can, in itself, be well defended. The prophet Malachi even assumes it as something known:

Are we not all of one father? Has not one El created us?
—Mal. 2:10—

And Paul says to his pagan audience on the Areopagus:

For we are also His progeny.
—Acts 17:28—

As Creator, God is the Father of all people. That makes sense—after all, all of humanity descends from Him. Yet the New Testament presents an additional perspective. It distinguishes between those who are children of God and those who are not (John 8:41–42). Paul teaches that it is not the physical offspring, but the children of the promise who are reckoned as children of God (Rom. 9:8). And John writes that the world does not know the children of God, because it does not know Him (1 John 3:1–2,10).

That is why we read in John 1:12:

Yet whoever obtained Him, to them He gives the right to become children of God, to those who are believing in His name…

The expression “to become children of God” implies that these people were not that before. This is not (as in the OT) about birth, but about rebirth—about incorruptible life beyond death. Paul speaks of a new creation:

So that, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation:
—2 Corinthians 5:17—

In short: as creatures, all people are children of God, but as new creatures, only believers are that—already today. They may now already share in the life that is incorruptible and has been brought to light in Christ. But what is now still limited to the circle of believers will one day prove to be universal. For God brings His plan to completion: everything that is out of Him will also return to Him.

…one God and Father of all, Who is over all and through all and in all.
—Ephesians 4:6—

Delen: